Package assembling machine



July 5, 1932. A PQDEL PACKAGE ASSEMBLING MACHINE Filed July 15, 192 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 5, 1932. P DEL 1,866,369

PACKAGE ASSEMBLING MACHINE Filed y 1926 .5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN'IL' Airmail/[Mel 1114 ATTORNEY July 5, 1932. A PODEL PACKAGE ASSEMBLING MACHINE .3 Sheets-Sheet Filed July 15, 1926 Patented July .5, 1932 NHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE ABRAHAM PODEL. LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 1'0 ANCHOR CAP &

CLOSURE CORPORATION, OF LONG ISLAND NE YORK Application filed July 15,

5' It is customary to pack various products,

particularly food products, in packages or cans and close them by means of closure caps. The more desirable types of containers are frangible vessels such as glasses, jars, and

w. the like, although many types of tin cans are in use. The products are placed in these receptacles and in some instances hermetically sealed by soldering a cover thereon, or in the case of glass containers by the compression of a suitable gasket. Frequently hermetic seals are not required but seals commonly known as friction seals may be utilized. In all cases however, closure caps must -be placed upon the tops of the containers prior to the subsequent sealing operation, if any. Since packages of these general types are sold inlarge quantities due to the fact that they are household necessities in every home, it is highly important that each step in the manufacture be as economical as possible.

Skilled operators have been utilized for applying caps to containers as they pass along aconveyor at a definite rate but the handling of each individualcap is likely to contaminate it rendering the contents unsanitary. The cost of manual application too, is extremely high. Machines have'been provided for applying caps to certain types of vessels but are objectionable in that they re quire the feeding of individual caps into chutes whichagain necessitates constant attention of an operator and His handling of the individual caps. The moving parts of the machine for applying the caps to the containers must be ad usted to a high degree of ac curacy requiring complicated constructions necessitating frequent attention to maintain the correct synchronism, and endangering the vessels and contents in the event that the adjustments are not accurate.

The present invention overcomes these dif ficulties" by providing a machine adapted to receive a stack of caps which may be removed groups from thecartons in which they are shipped and suflicient'quantities mounted in CITY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION or PACKAGE ASS EMBLING MACHINE 1926. Serial No. 122,516.

the machine to permit it to run for considerable periods 0 time. The individual caps are removed from the bottom of the stack automatically and fed mechanically in timed relation to the presentation of vessels to a depending support and held in that osition to engage an approaching vessel and he applied thereto as it moves under the support. The feeding of the ca -is actuated by the vessel on which it is to e applied, and hence the feeding mechanism is always in synchronism with the presentation of the vessels. F urther if the vessels are .fed irregularly to the conveyor the proper feeding of the caps is not affected. Derangement of the vessels is prevented by providing a ratchet connection which is adapted to permit the vessels to pass without feedin caps when a predetermined resistance is o ered to the displacement of a cap from the lower portion of the stack.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective machine for placing closure caps upon moving vessels at a high rate of speed without manipulating the vessels or disturbing their rate of movement.

the cap adjacent the bottom cap and raising the entire stack free of said bottom cap so that it may be removed without difliculty.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive cap feeding device adapted to remove a single cap from a stack and place it in position for engagement with the'rim of a vessel. q

, A further object of the invention is to provide cap feeding means actuated by the passing vessels whereby caps will not be fed unless a vessel is in position to receive it and to. provide in addition suitable safety devices to prevent derangement of said vessels in the event a predetermined resistance is ofleredtothe operation of the cap-feed. v

A still further object of the invention is to effect rapidand accurateassembling of closures onvessels and complete seating thereon while they are being fed or moved progressively.

Other and fu' the invention other than those hereinafter 's ecificially referred to will occur to one s 'llcd in the art or become evident upon the employment of the invention in practice.

Described generally, the above objects are attained in this embodiment by utilizing a conveyor for moving vessels at a predetermined rate under a cap support having a depending, inclined portion adapted to hold a cap extending over the lower portion thereof in canted position to engage the rim of the 'container and be removed therefrom. The closure caps are preferably placed in a stack on the support and suitable reciprocating fingers are utilized'to engage the stack of caps and raise it clear of the bottom cap thereon so that the bottom cap may be moved to position on the support, Suitable positioning devices are adapted to be operated by the moving vessels to position the cap separated from the stack as the vessel is presented to engage the cap. The cap positioning member is driven by means of a ratchet mechanism which is adapted to operate when a predetermined resistance is offered to the movement of the cap positioning member so that the vessels will not be deranged or overturned in any instance. The entire device is adapted to be adjusted for various sizes of vessels so that it may be changed quickly to accommodate any type of vessel, 7

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a. perspective view illustrating the operation of the machine; v Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the machine;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation'al view showing a vessel about to engage a cap;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line 44 of Figs..3 and 5 showing details of the construction with parts broken away for sim plicity;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6' is a sectional view illustrating the mechanism of Fig. 5 prior to the engagement of the fingers with the caps; and

Fig. 7 is a detailed view illustrating the application of a cap to a vessel.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a conveyor 10 of any suitable type having bars 11 adapted to move the vessels 12 under the support 14. An upright channel member 16 is mounted on the framework 17 adjacent the conveyor for the adjustable attachment of various parts of the mechanism thereto.

A shaft 18 is threaded through the upper end of the upper right member 16 to extend longitudinally of the channel with a knob 19 at its upper end for rotation thereof. A suitable block 20 is s lidably mounted in the channel and threaded to the shaft 18 for vertical movement therein and may be securely held in any desired position by bolts 22 threaded into suitable projections 24 on the back of the block and adapted to slide in a suitable slot in the upright member. The position of the block may be adjusted by loosening these bolts and rotating the shaft 18. Suitable lateral flanges 26 are provided on the block with a horizontal groove therein adapted to receive a corresponding tongue on the support 14 to form a dove-tail joint 28 therewith. Bolts 27 may be inserted through the apertures in the flanges and threaded to the support, rigidly to hold it in adjustable position.

The support 14 is here shown as a casting having an aperture or recess 30 with four ods 31' mounted thereabout to receive a stack of caps 32. The bottom of the aperture is closed by a plate 34 suitably bolted to the support and having an arcuate slot 35 to accommodate a cap positioning member adapted to move the cap ,at the bottom of the stack along the plate. The support 14 and likewise the plate 34, mounted on the lower side thereof, have an inclined depending portion 36 on which the cap positioning member moves the caps prior to their engagement with the vessels. At the lower end of the depending portion of the plate 34, a recess 38, preferably circular in form, is provided through which the rims of the vessels on the conveyor move whenthe support is properly adjusted. Individual caps 32 are moved on to this as described hereinafter and held in position by a holding member 40 rotatably mounted on the webs 42 on the support 14 by means of the pin 41. As a cap moves on to the depending seat it engages and raises a member 45, having a flat portion 46 bent substantially parallel to the inclined portion of the plate34. The member 45 is adapted to rotate about a pin 47 and is held in its normal position by means of a set screw 48 which may be adjusted to hold the cap in its proper position without oflering sufiicient resistance to its movement to interfere with the proper operation of the machine. The lower edge of the cap engages the member 40 and is resiliently held from further movement until a vessel 12 passes through the recess in the plate 34 and engages with its rim the skirt of the cap and presses the holding member 40 from its normal position. As the vessel continues to move the cover; is raised and removed from the inclined support, the member 40 pressing the skirt of the cap firmlyagainst the rim of the vessel and then riding over the flat cover portion to press the cap properly on the vessel.

To separate the caps from the stack and to move them individually to the vessel. engaging position on the depending support, there is provided a pair of shafts 50 mounted in extensions 51 on the support 14 which are provided with oil ducts for the proper lubricationof the bearings. Sleeves 54 are mounted on the shafts havingjpairs of depending arms 55 thereon slotted at 56 to receive cap engaging fingers 57. The slots 56 are slightly widerthan the fingers to permit slight play therein when pivoted by bolts 59 so that they may find their proper place between the bottom cap and the one adjacent thereto for raising the stack of caps. The ends of the fingers are bevelled from the respective sides in a vertical direction to form wedges 58 curved at their extremities into substantially the shape of the caps whereby,

when the pairs of fingers 57 are moved toward each other,'the stack of caps is firmly supported at four points.

For the proper operation of the fingers 57 there are provided arms60 and 61 keyed to the ends of the shafts 50, with one of the arms extended beyond its sh aft with its end in the form of a collar 62 adapted to receive a rod 64. The inner ends of the arms are slidablv connected to permit oscillation thereof. The rod 64 has its end threaded for a substantial distance with suitable nuts 65, and look nuts 66 mounted on the respective sides of the collar 62 to hold it in proper position. The lower end of the rod is slidably mounted in a bearing 67 in the framework of the machine with a suitable spring 68, held in position by a collar 69 and nuts 70 on the rod to holdthe rod resiliently in its upper position and to maintain the fingers out of contact with the stack of caps.

A lever 72 pivoted to the framework of the machine at 74 is attached at one end to the lower end of the rod 64 and has a cam roller 75 at its other end in engagement with a cam 76 on a drive shaft 77. The drive shaft 77 preferably is operatively connected to the conveyor drive so that it may be timed with respect to the movement of the vessels. This permits periodic operation of the fingers 57 for raising the stack of caps to free the lowermost cap thereof as the respective vessels ass. p The individual caps are removed and fed to the depending part of the support by means bushing 91 on the lower end of the shaft and ease in the eventthat the upper turnstile 81 is prevented from rotating by any ob'stacle.- The spring 95 is adjusted so that the lower turnstile may be readily rotated by the vessel without derangement thereof in opposition to the ratchet mechanism.

Suitable adjustable guides 97 are provided to extend over the sides of the conveyor adjacent the lower portions of the vessels to guide them properly'thereon. More accurate adjustment of the lateral position of the vessels is attained by means of curved guides 98 adjustably mounted on the bottom of the plate 34 whereby the vessels, as they move along the conveyor, are if necessary, moved slightly in either direction to engage the center of a cap 32 depending over the lower portion of the plate 34. p

In operation, the cap applying mechanism is mounted over a suitable conveyor 10, which may lead to a sealing machine or elsewhere. As the vessels pass under the support 14, the cam 76 through lever 72, rod 64, arms 60 and 61 and shafts 50, oscillates the fingers 57 into engagement with the under side of the cap adjacent the cap at the bottom of the stack to raise the entire stack free from the lower-, most cap therein. At this time 'avessel 12 engages the lower turnstile and rotates through the ratchet 93 and shaft 82 the upper into engagement with the member 40 which holds it in canted position at the end of the support. At this time the cap is -mounted above the recess 38 anda substantial part of the cap is presented to the vessel 12 as it passes through the recess so that the rim of the vessel engages the skirt of the cap and raises it from its canted position off of the support and at the same time the cap is pressed downwardly on the vessel'by means of the member 40. After the cap freed by the fingers 57 is removed from the stack, the cam 76 permits the spring 68 to retractthe fingers 57 and permit the stack of caps to rest on the plate 34. As successive vessels are presented this cycle of operation is repeated, and if at any time the upper turnstile is prevented from moving by reason of the failure of the fingers to free the lowermost cap of the stack 7 or for any other reason, the ratchet mechanism 93 operates to permit the lower turnstile or lowered as shown respectively in Figs. 3

and 5 to accommodate vessels of any height. The adjustments as to height may be made by loosening the-bolts 22 in the uprightmember 16 and if the support is to be raised by moving upwardly the nuts 65 and 66 above I the collar .62 on the shaft 64,.and by likewise moving upwardly the collar 85 on shaft 82.

Then by rotating the threaded shaft 18 the blo k 20 and the support 14' may be raised to t e desired position. The lower nuts and 66 adjacent the collar 62 and rod 64 are then properly positioned to lock the collar in its proper position and likewise the collars 85 and 86 are positioned to lock the upper turnstile in proper position.

It. will be seen that the above invention is readily applicable to all types of sealing machines and may be readily mounted upon any conveyor to apply various types of caps to vessels and receptacles without interrupting the movement thereof. Further, the machine is of simple and inexpensive construction and the parts are fully capable of withstanding the rceugh usage to which they may be sub- 'e'cte 1 While the particular embodiment described above is designed primarily for use in association with a sealing machine which is effec.- .tlve on the closures after they have been assembled on the vessel in order to form a seal between the closure and the vessel, it is obvious that the invention is not limited to such an embodiment and that various changes may be made in the construction and application described herein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the above description is, therefore, to be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an inclined plane adapted to receive a cap, a pivoted arm adapted to engage the lower edge of said cap and hold it on said plane, and means for moving a vessel 'into engagement with the lower edge of said cap to remove it from said plane, said pivoted arm being raised thereby to-engage the cover portion of said cap and press it downwardly on said vessel. I e

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an inclined support adapted to receive a cap, said cap being adapted to project over the end of said support, a pivoted arm for engaging the lower edge of said cap to hold it on said support, and means to engage said cap to prevent it from toppling off of said support.

3. In a machine ofthe class described, the combination of a support adjustable in a vertical direction to accommodate vessels of different heights, said support being recessed at one end thereof and being adapted to receive a gap over said recess, a pivoted arm for releasably holding said cap in position, and devices for moving said vessel into engagement with said cap to remove it therefrom in opposition to said pivoted arm.

4:. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a supporting member adjustable in a vertical direction to accommodate vessels of different heights, positive operating means for moving a cap along said supporting member into position to be engaged by a vessel, devices for moving a vessel into engagement with said positioned cap to remove it from said supporting means, and members on the lower side of said support for accurately positioning the vessels for engagement with the cap. v

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support having a slot therein, means for moving vessels adjacent said support, and a pair of turnstiles, one of said turnstiles adapted to be engaged by said vessels to operate said other turnstile to position caps for engagement with said vessels, the up per side of said upper turnstile having a ative rotation thereof when. a predetermined resistance is offered to the rotation of one of said turnstiles.

7 In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for caps and the like, means for moving vessels adjacent said support, rotatable means adapted to engage I said caps and move them along said support into position for engagement with said vessels, and devices adapted to engage said vessels to rotate said rotatable means, and mechanism for rendering said devices ineffective upon said rotatable means when a predetermined resistance is olfered to the rotation thereof.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for caps and the like, means for moving vessels under said support, a pair of turnstiles, one of said turnstiles being adapted to be engaged by said vessels to rotate said other turnstile for positioning caps, and means for preventing derangement of said vessels when an excessive resistance is offered to the rotation of the turnstile effective upon the caps.

9. In a machine of the class described, the

per member for positioning caps to be engage thereby.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support adjustable to accommodate vessels of difierent sizes, means for moving a vessel under' said support, and a pair of rotatable members below said support mounted one above the other, the lower one of said members being adapted to be engaged and rotated by said passing vessel to rotate said upper member to engage and position a cap in the path of said vessel.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for caps and the like adjustable in height for vessels of different sizes, means for moving a vessel under-said support, a rotatable member mounted beneath said support having amember thereon extending upwardly therefrom adapted to engage a cap on said support to position same, and means operatively connected to said'rotatable member for engagement with vessels to rotate said rotatable member in timed relation to the movement of said vessel to position the cap for engagement therewith.

12. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of shafts, a pair of finers on each of said shafts, means for rotating said shafts to effect the engagement of said fingers with a stack of caps, whereby said stack of caps is raised to release a part thereof, and means for removing said released part.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of shafts, means on each of said shafts ada ted to engage a stack of caps when said sha ts are rotated, an arm on each of said shafts, and devices engaging said arms to rotate said shafts simultaneously, whereby said engaging means will be moved inwardly to engage and separate a cap from said stack upon operation of said devices.

14. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for a stack of caps, said support having a depending portion thereon, means for engaging the side of said stack to raise the stack and to separate the lowermost cap therefrom, means for removing the lowermost cap from the stack onto the depending portion and means for moving a vessel horizontally into engagement with the cap on said depending portion to remove the cap therefrom.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for a stack of caps,- means for moving vessels horizontally under said support, devices operative periodically to engage and raise said stack of caps to separate one of said caps therefrom, and mechanism operated by said vessels while moving horizontally under the support to remove said separated cap into position for engagement by said vessel.

16. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for a stack of caps having a depending portion, means for moving vessels under said depending portion, devices for engaging and raising said stack to separate one of said caps therefrom, means operative in timed relation to the movement of said vessel to remove said cap on to said depending portion, and means for retaining said cap on said support in canted position to permit the lower edge thereof to be engaged by a passing vessel.

17. In a device of the class described, the combination of a support for a stack of caps, substantially vertical arms mounted to oscillate, horizontal fingers on said arms adapted to move in a substantially horizontal plane for insertion between the bottom cap and the one adjacent thereto to raise said stack and permit the lowermost cap to be removed therefrom, and a rotating member operable in response to the movement of the vessels to removesaid cap. 7

18. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of arms having recesses therein and a plurality of fingers mounted in said recesses to permit a small vibratory movement of the fingers, said fingers being adapted to be moved inwardly to engage a stack of caps and to separate one of the caps therefrom.

19. In a device for feeding caps and the like, the combination of a support for a stack of caps, pivoted means for engaging the stack of caps, means for oscillating said pivoted means for engaging the cap adjacent the bottom of the stack to raise said stack leaving said bottom cap on said support, and a member adapted to rotate in a horizontal plane operated by vessels moving along a conveyor under said support for removing said bottom cap therefrom.

20. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of oscillating arms, a plurality of fingers on said arms adapted to be moved to engage and separate a stackof caps into two parts, an inclined support and means actuated by vessels moving along a horizontal conveyor to remove the lowermost cap from the stack onto said inclined support. c 1

21. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support for a stack of caps, means for movin v vessels under said support, oscillating evices having a plurality of fingers thereon adapted to engage said stack above the bottom ca thereof to raise said stack without distur ing said bottom cap, and means 0 erated responsively to the vessel moving un er said support for moving said bottom cap along said support into posi-v tion for engagement with a vessel.

ABRAHAM PODEL. 

